10 Best Album Covers

If you love your music, then you'll adore this list of the 10 best album covers ever. In this digitized age of music, it's a little difficult to really appreciate the impact the best album covers have on the fans. However, this list of the best album covers ever will definitely have you dusting off your old CDs and LPs to start appreciating these amazing works of art.

The Clash – "London Calling". What's more punk rock than slamming your guitar on the stage at the end of a set? This photo of the lead guitarist doing so is so beautiful in its simplicity, making it one of the best album covers of all time. As an added bonus, this happens to be one of the band's best albums to boot.

Nirvana – "Nevermind". Yes, it's a naked baby in a swimming pool chasing a dollar bill. Is it a criticism on American consumerism, or an ironic statement of the music industry itself? Either way, it's a fantastic image that has parodied more times than we can count.

The Beatles – "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". One of the best album covers of all time from, arguably, the greatest rock and roll band in human history. Taken like a photo you'd find in the yearbook, the Fab Four take center stage amidst a collection of eclectic figures and vibrant colors.

Pink Floyd – "Dark Side Of The Moon". Again, this one makes the list due to its simplicity. A sliver of light makes its way through a prism, exploding into a rainbow that is constrained yet beautiful.

Gym Class Heroes – "As Cruel As School Children". The imagery on this album is evocative of that moment in middle school we all never want to remember. Being the outcast of the class, all we could do is sit by while everyone laughed at us; this idea is turned on its head by the gleeful expression on the blue boy's face on this album cover.

The Beatles – "Abbey Road". Yes, we know how it might seem like cheating that the boys from Liverpool are on this list twice, but we can't help that they've made some of the best album covers of all time. How much simpler can you get when you have the band members crossing the road, each one exuding his own sense of individuality in his posture and gait. Another one of the images that will never fade from pop culture's memory.

Massive Attack – "Mezzanine". Contrast is the name of the game on this album cover. A stark white background gives way to a giant black beetle which eliminates most, if not all, of the dead space of the cover. It's blatant and sublime at the same time, giving the audience a view into the mind set of the music makers before they even start listening to the first track.

Bruce Springsteen – "Born In The U.S.A." A back view of the man himself with an American flag in the background evokes pretty much every feeling of blue-collar sentiment that Bruce Springsteen puts into every song. If you're looking for pure Americana, you can't go wrong with this album cover. What else can you expect from The Boss?

AC/DC – "Back In Black". Given the name of the album, the methodology behind the design makes perfect sense. A black background with the well-known AC/DC logo makes this one of the best and simplest album covers ever.

Arcade Fire – "Arcade Fire". This is one of the best album covers of all time due to its great use of white space and typography. The tones in the blue are calming and striking at the same time, drawing the audience's attention while managing to be easy on the eyes.